Prime Minister Stephen Harper visits Governor General David Johnston, along with his wife Laureen, to dissolve parliament and trigger an election campaign at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Sunday, August 2, 2015. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he has asked Governor General David Johnston to dissolve Parliament, touching off an 11-week campaign in advance of an election Oct. 19.

Harper made the announcement today outside Rideau Hall, square in the middle of the August holiday weekend, ending months of speculation and conjecture about when the campaign would begin.

The director and CEO of the Winnipeg Art Gallery has been appointed to the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) Board of Trustees.

Dr. Stephen Borys is the only Canadian member to be appointed to the AAMD, which represents 242 art museum directors in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

“This election to the Association of Art Museum Directors Board of Trustees is great for Canada and the Winnipeg Art Gallery,” Borys said. “I am honoured to serve on the Board and participate in constructive conversations around the important role art plays in our communities.”

NEEPAWA, Man. — Like hockey and maple syrup, universal health care is an identifiable feature of Canada. The problem is that, unlike hockey and maple syrup, there are shortages within the health care system that leave many people paying for services they can’t access. We aren’t just paying a little bit either. In 2015/2016, the province in planning to spend $6 billion on health, roughly 38 percent of the entire $15 billion budget.

While it may be relatively easy to attract physicians to work in large centres, that’s not the case for rural Canada. Most rural Canadian communities are in the same boat, there aren’t enough doctors to meet the community’s health needs.

TORONTO – Canadians looking to take the plunge in safe, clean waters this long weekend can use an app to scour beaches across the country with the best and worst water quality.

The Waterkeeper Swim Guide app monitors the water quality of more than 7,000 beaches across North America, the Baja Peninsula and New Zealand, all aggregated from data contributed by local waterkeepers.

WINNIPEG — I well remember the first time I saw Donald Sutherland on a movie screen. It was the summer of 1967, and he was playing one of Lee Marvin’s crew of desperate men in “The Dirty Dozen.” I had no idea that he was even a Canadian, and the son-in-law of Tommy Douglas, the man who would one day be voted the greatest Canadian.

Donald is now 80 and still going strong in movies like “The Hunger Games.” He’s also quite angry that when other Canadians get to vote in a federal election in October, he won’t be allowed to take part. He was born and raised in New Brunswick and still has a home in this country, but his principal residence has been outside Canada for many years. Such people are ex-patriates, and more than a million of them have been declared ineligible to vote in October by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Artist Erica Swendrowski poses next to one of her giant glass marbles as part of a new downtown art exhibit titled, ‘Marbles on Portage,’ Friday, July 27, 2012. (STAN MILOSEVIC / CHRISD.CA)Marbles on Portage has been moved to the Mayfair Recreation Centre. (STAN MILOSEVIC / CHRISD.CA)

The colourful marbles that once graced Portage Avenue have been moved to the Mayfair Recreation Centre at the corner of Donald Street and River Avenue.

The collaboration was an effort between the Winnipeg Arts Council Public Art Program and the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ to add some colour to downtown Winnipeg medians.

The temporary project proved so popular that the marbles — created by artist Erica Swendrowski — were moved to a permanent location for the public to enjoy.